Ivy League
by aka CZ
Summary: Cheryl is an ordinary girl in a world where the adventure that awaits will be anything but. Along with Cynthia, Riley, and other memorable friends, she will prove that even the plainest jane can accomplish amazing things.
1. Chapter 1

Cheryl stared at the wild Murkrow, her mouth firmly set in a small, determined frown.

"Chansey, Growl."

Chansey nodded almost imperceptibly and made the most threatening warning sound it could. The Murkrow hopped to a new branch and cackled quietly, not caring about the effects of the technique.

"And now, Tail Whip."

Chansey had barely moved when a black haze washed over them all, obscuring Cheryl and Chansey's vision for a few crucial seconds, and more important tactically, completely negating the effects Cheryl had been trying to disadvantage the Murkrow with.

_This isn't working._

"Very well. Chansey, Egg Bomb."

The Murkrow watched in polite confusion as an egg launched through the air at it. A couple seconds later, an explosion blast knocked it out in a wink. Young green leaves lazily rained down around the trainer and her Pokémon partner.

"Well done." Cheryl's expression softened as she smiled at Chansey. She walked forward and placed a hand on Chansey's head, stroking its soft skin. "Yes, well done indeed. It's too bad about the poor thing…" she said, gazing at the fainted Murkrow. She sighed. "I know it will be all right after a few hours' rest, but it still seems a little unkind to them." Chansey nodded a little in understanding.

"Come now; you're going to make me feel like I should be repenting for being a trainer."

Cheryl looked up at the blonde woman striding towards her on the overgrown path. The woman's long black coat fluttered behind her with every movement. Cheryl always wondered that it never snagged on anything, at least not when anyone else was around.

"You know how I feel about guilt trips," she continued, tilting her head a little.

"And you know how I feel about the wild Pokémon."

Cheryl pulled away from Chansey just as Cynthia threw an arm around her, gently resting it there while hugging her friend, then she also pulled back so that each of the three was standing looking at the other two.

"I presume your appearance means you've finished your battle?"

Cynthia grinned and pulled the Forest Badge from her pocket. The silver and green surface gleamed beautifully in the sunlight streaming through Eterna Forest's treetops.

"Congratulations!" Cheryl clasped her hands in front of her, eyes shining. Cynthia shook her head once.

"You know, I've seen you and Chansey battle. You'd fare just as well against the gym leaders. Why you don't as long as you're travelling around, I'll never understand."

Cheryl merely smiled back at her. After a pause, Cynthia shrugged with her hands in the air and then waved for Cheryl to come along. Giving Chansey a quick glance, Cheryl returned her healthy but tired partner, then trotted to catch up after Cynthia started back without her. Falling in step beside her, Cheryl and Cynthia swept up the path to Eterna.

* * *

Though Eterna was well-known for its tall, modern architecture, Cheryl couldn't help taking pause every time she saw the Galactic building looming on the north side of town. Even a glimpse out of the corner of her eye, a single glint of sun or starlight on a wall spike was enough to make her smile disappear and her steps falter. She resumed walking after a couple seconds and was surprised to see Cynthia staring at her expectantly. Hurrying forward, Cheryl kept her head bowed as they walked to the PokéCenter.

"Why are they here?" she whispered underneath the sound of the doors automatically whooshing open to let them enter. She lifted her head up to watch her Chansey bound forward to greet its fellow nurse Pokémon. Glancing around, she took a seat on the nearest vacant chair, folding her hands on her lap and quickly getting lost in her thoughts again.

"Who where?"

Cheryl gasped and flung her head back, nearly hitting her head on the wall behind her. Cynthia sat down beside her, oblivious to how much she had been startled. A pink tinge coloured Cheryl's cheeks as she answered.

"Oh, Team Galactic. Here in Eterna."  
"They're just here on business." Cynthia shrugged.  
"Does anyone even know what kind of business they are? It's an odd business name isn't it?"  
"It's not a business itself; they're some kind of activist organization. They still need offices for, I don't know, paperwork. Membership fees."

Cheryl leaned back. It was hard not to be suspicious, especially of anything calling itself a team. Rocket, _Neo_ Rocket rumours, Magma and Aqua... She looked sideways at Cynthia, lounging on the chair and humming without a worry about Galactic affairs. She closed her eyes, wondering if she was being excessively mistrustful. Team Galactic had yet to be accused of any criminal activity; the worst the public had charged them with so far was a bizarre sense of style.

_The worst... so far_, the voice in the back of her mind reminded her.

"Miss, your Pokémon are ready!" Nurse Joy called to Cynthia. Collecting them and giving the nurse her thanks, Cheryl and Chansey followed in Cynthia's wake as they left for the 'mart one block down. As they turned around the street corner, a man in the odd silver uniform of the Galactic members ran past, bumping into Cheryl's shoulder bag. She twisted aside just in time to protect him from smashing its contents, and watched him continue running off down the road while the glass jars gradually stopped clinking together.

"I wonder what his deal is," Cynthia mused before walking up the sidewalk to the small shop. Cheryl said nothing.

Inside, they quickly exchanged wares and stocked their inventory. Carefully passing the shopkeeper the jars of Honey she had collected that day, Cheryl told him she would be leaving for a while and didn't know when she'd be able to resume collecting it for him. Cynthia jumped in at his hurt expression.

"It's no insult to you. She's going to travel with me for a while. You don't expect her to be in here each weekend when she might have to commute from someplace like Snowpoint, do you?" she teased, checking how much room was left in the medicine pocket of her own much larger bag.

Cheryl smiled, avoiding the shopkeeper's eyes nonetheless while she packed the pouch of berries she received as her bartered payment for the Honey.

"I want to do something before we go," she announced outside. At Cynthia's nod, she took the lead, and the small group made its way to the north side of town. Cheryl looked straight ahead as they passed through the shadow of the Galactic building.

Hopping up the hillside steps, Cheryl stopped at the base of the ancient statue staring down over the town from the top. Like everything about Eterna, the statue too was over-sized. Some claimed it was a life-size scale, but looking up at the imposing figure, Cheryl was skeptical at best of those claims. She ran a hand over the half-worn, half- crumbled inscription plate.

The Pokémon itself was a mystery. Folktales were abundant about its sovereignty over the dimensions, but none of them mentioned a name. As its name faded over time, the statue had slowly begun breaking down as well – the tail had broken off before Cheryl had been born, and the polished dark stone set in its chest had a forked crack splintering it like a tree of lightning.

Cheryl stepped back, staring silently into its dead eyes as she asked for the ancient guardian's protection. Cynthia didn't comment right away but hung back, arms folded over her chest.

Chansey broke the moment, mumbling a question as it watched a pair of Galactic members sprint away in the opposite direction, towards Eterna Forest. Cynthia looked over while Cheryl was preoccupied. She was stunned by what she saw.

"Cheryl!" she hissed.  
"What is it?" Cheryl had only half turned around when Cynthia explained.  
"Those are Gardenia's Pokémon!"

Cheryl quickly looked where Chansey was still staring off, but the pair in question had already disappeared into the thicket around the edge of the forest.

"How do you know?"  
"Custom pokéballs." Cynthia looked grim. "Green with two black spots."  
"Are you sure?"  
"... Yeah."

Cheryl clasped her hands tighter, the knuckles turning pale. She hadn't moved yet from where she stood, and Cynthia seemed to expect more from her. She didn't know how to verbalize for her friend that she wasn't a real trainer; that that if they were right, and Galactic was crooked and criminal after all, it would be a risk she had never faced before. A real danger. She fell back on her most reliable decision-maker.

"Chansey." The Pokémon blinked at her. "Are you ready for this?"

Chansey looked from Cheryl to Cynthia without a sound, then faced towards Eterna Forest as an answer.

Cynthia grinned wryly. "We're a team now. I've got your back, so just make sure you've got mine." She paused, staring thoughtfully at the sky for a second, then turned with a flourish of her coat and walked off. "I think that was sentimental enough to last for a while. Let's go be heroes." Cheryl laughed despite the situation. She smiled at her friend's back as the blonde girl strode back towards the Forest, leaving the mysterious statue behind them.

* * *

A/N: Hello! I felt I should pop in here to let you all know just a little more background on this fic.

_Ivy League_ is an altered time-line based on **gameverse** canon. Chronologically, it takes place a few years earlier, when Cynthia the Sinnoh Champion is merely Cynthia the up-and-coming trainer, although many events will parallel the D/P/Pt storyline. And many won't ;) What age are Cheryl and Cynthia exactly? Well, I'm going to deviate from that whole "Ten-year-olds are clearly the perfect age for conquering Pokémon that created the universe" thing the games have going and say they're somewhere in their late teens.

And that should be the only A/N you have interrupting your fanfiction fix. I hope you enjoy reading _Ivy League_!


	2. Chapter 2

The red sky was giving way to deeper blue and purples as Cheryl and Cynthia re-entered Eterna Forest. A few footprints appeared in patches of softer soil, but for the most part they were walking down the path on blind faith that the suspected thieves weren't braving the forest proper. Once off the path, it was far too easy to get turned around and lose track in the dense, unmapped stretch of trees.

Cheryl had fallen in place more or less beside Cynthia, although she still remained a step or two behind. She stole occasional glances at Cynthia's face, attempting to discern what her plan of action was once they found the grunts, or if there even was a solid plan being formed behind the blank determination masking Cynthia's face.

Chansey growled, diverting her attention. Cheryl's gaze darted around the shrubbery and trees.

"Something's out there," Cynthia calmly confirmed, "But it's not them. Just the wild."

Cheryl continued to look, feeling the smallest twitch of irritation with herself that she wasn't picking up on whatever had alerted the other two. Then she heard the nearby rustling – just for a second – and the natural sounds of the forest covered it up again.

A Buneary burst from her left, dashing head-first into Chansey. Cynthia whirled around, tossing out a pokéball at the same time in a single fluid movement.

"Grotle, Tackle!"

Chansey had regained itself and was staring down the wild Pokémon, just waiting for a word from Cheryl. Relived that Chansey was fine, she called for Chansey to join in the attack with Egg Bomb. The Buneary nimbly stepped aside – right in front of the charging Grotle.

"Again!" "Pound!"

The trainers shared a glance and a smile at the simultaneous command. The Buneary didn't stand a chance and was soon bent over, panting. To Cheryl's surprise, Cynthia waved her forward.

"You always train, but you've never bothered to catch any more for a proper team. Chansey's strong, but two heads are better than one and all that, right?"

Cheryl stared at her, slightly baffled.

"I didn't purchase any kind of balls at the Mart, though." It hadn't really occurred to her that they were among the things she needed for a trip as Cynthia's travelling partner. Cynthia was the proper trainer of the two. As if proving her outlook on their positions, Cynthia held up an empty pokéball.

"That's all right, because I did it for you. Catch."

Holding the pokéball, Cheryl stared at the shiny red and white surface like it was an alien contraption.

"Go on, it's not going to bite. The pokéball won't either."

Cheryl glanced sharply at Cynthia's smirking face, and then with an underhand throw took a shot at capturing the Buneary. Shake, Shake. Shake… Bing.

"I caught it."

Cynthia giggled behind her curled up hand.

"So you did, now go say hello to it."

Suddenly galvanized, Cheryl ran forward and knelt down, picking up the newly occupied pokéball and letting Buneary back out. Beckoning Chansey over she quickly healed Buneary back to health, then greeted the small rabbit Pokémon while Chansey healed Grotle. She hadn't expected it to be as complacent about the situation as it apparently was. The cheerful little critter even hopped over to invade Grotle's personal space. That's how Grotle was taking it anyway, Cheryl though, judging by the grumpy disinterested expression it had. She returned Buneary and Cynthia did the same for Grotle.

"We have to find those thieves."

Cheryl nodded and fell into place walking with Cynthia.

"Since we haven't seen them by now, I doubt they went that far. If nothing else, they'd collapse from the tire of running. They're probably hiding."

Cheryl met her eyes as Cynthia looked over her shoulder at her.

"I've been past there dozens of times. It's completely inaccessible. The forest reclaimed it years ago." Cheryl began refuting the suggestion before Cynthia could say it.

"Where else would they be?"

Cynthia stopped and faced Cheryl, standing in the middle of the path with her hands on her hips. She leaned forward a little waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," Cheryl said, the pause growing after each word. Her stomach knotted. "I know it's a good chance. I wish it wasn't," she elaborated.

Relaxing at this answer, Cynthia walked towards her purposefully. Twirling into place, she hooked an arm through Cheryl's and pulled her forward. Cheryl quickly moved her feet to prevent Cynthia from outright dragging her along.

"You're going, with me, and that's all there is to it. Think of it as just another house."  
"Cynthia, it's a haunted house at night!" Cheryl jabbed her free hand up into the air, pointing at the constantly darkening dusk.  
"I've never known you to be afraid of ghost stories," Cynthia said uncertainly.  
"I haven't been, as long as I'm not facing them."  
"Why, you're not that superstitious and scared, are you? They're Pokémon, too, like any other."  
"Cynthia. It's just Chansey and I. And now Buneary."

Cynthia shook her head while taking Cheryl down the northern fork in the path.

"I already thought of that. You're with me now." Cynthia turned briefly to give Cheryl a cocky grin. "Solved that problem."

Cheryl looked at Chansey, hurrying along beside them, and hoped Cynthia's confidence would be enough to overcome any danger in the Old Chateau.

* * *

"Oh my."

Cheryl stood in shock. Her gaze drifted over the hacked and splintered trees. Broken boughs were heaped to one side. Torn leaves were scattered on the ground around them.

The trail was marked by a set of overlapping heavy footprints spaced in long strides: the Galactic members running through. Cheryl had been suspicious since they had first set up in Eterna. Even so, it caused her a small pang of sadness to see strong proof against them. Why would they be running, with Gardenia's pokéballs no less, and tearing apart the forest if they weren't guilty and trying to find a hideout?

The two trainers didn't speak as they approached the abandoned house, both lost in thoughts of what they would do when they inevitably confronted the criminals, not to mention the dangers lurking everywhere in a haunted house. Wild Pokémon everywhere, ghosts and others that had taken refuge in the area usually free of trespassers. The possible dangers of the house itself – without anyone around to take care of it, who knew whether they'd be walking upstairs and suddenly one might give out under their feet?

_And if Team Galactic is willing to steal, and managed to do so from a gym leader, what would they be willing to do to a couple of everyday trainers? _Cheryl placed a hand on Chansey, and forced herself to think about and take things one step at a time.

The front door hadn't been fully shut in the Galactics' haste, and the slightest movement around the house set its hinges squeaking.

"I think you should take the lead, given our disadvantage. Chansey makes a better support system than fighter."

Silently accepting this arrangement, Cynthia pushed the door open with barely any pressure from her palm. She stood on the dingy welcome mat with her hand still partway up in the air, surveying the layout of the house floor. Waving Cheryl forward, Cynthia gave the evening sky a last worried look before heading into the first doorway she saw.


	3. Chapter 3

As she followed Cynthia's cautious lead, Cheryl constantly turned her head to look around, despite how little she could make out in the slivers of dim light sneaking through the boarded up windows. The thick carpeting muffled their footsteps at least, making it easier for them to move about without worrying about being caught… until she remembered that the thieves' footsteps would be muffled as well.

Looking for Cynthia, she was startled to see she had disappeared. Cheryl gasped. From the middle of the windowless study, a hand materialized and grabbed her wrist. Before she could faint in fright, another hand appeared beside her and pressed a finger to her lips, followed immediately by Cynthia's face blinking into sight. Now she almost fainted again from relief.

"We don't want _them_ to catch_ us_," Cynthia hissed in her ear. She nodded after a pause while her brain returned to functioning, and breathed out slowly as Cynthia let go and drew away to continue examining the room. Staring at the barely discernible outline of her friend's back, Cheryl wished Cynthia had picked a favourite colour to wear, any colour, besides black. She'd have to stay close.

Cheryl noticed the swish of light from blonde hair as Cynthia shook her head; nothing here of interest; and fell in behind her back into the hallway. The steps to her right glared down at her from their heights, daring her to even try to walk up into the black jaws of the open doorway at their very top. Chansey tugged gently on the hem of her clothes, and she broke her eye contact with the sinister stairway, hurrying to catch up with an oblivious Cynthia who had wandered into the dining hall.

Edging through the doorway, Cheryl approached the table with irresistible curiosity, assuming with its empty wineglasses and clean silver, all lying undisturbed from perfect placement and pristine condition, that there was no danger lurking anywhere around the antique furniture. She hesitated, then curled her fingers around the handle of a silver platter cover.

The lights burst on as soon as the edge her fingernail grazed the smooth metal.

Without thinking she stumbled away, trying to throw up her hands to cut the sudden assault on her eyes, and the platter cover came with her, still in her grip. Opening her eyes after a few seconds to adjust, she realized holding up the brightly reflective dish in front of her really wasn't helping her ability to see, and she dropped it with a _ding_ and a rolling clatter.

She stared across the table at Cynthia, who stared back at her. But neither one was paying attention to the surprised face opposite them. They were more focused on what was in between, curled up on the serving platter.

Gardenia, clothes and skin unmistakably burned.

Clasping her hands to her mouth, Cheryl stood stricken, while Cynthia practically hurled herself at the table in alarm and disbelief. She blindly watched Cynthia turn Gardenia on her back and try to shake the gym leader awake. Cynthia leaned over her, head turned aside, and remained there briefly before looking up silently, sadly, at Cheryl.

"Nn-." Cheryl looked away. She couldn't even finish that short little word of denial.

That was when Gardenia snapped to life, grappling all teeth and nails at Cynthia with a wicked evil grin and glowing red eyes, and began to strangle the paralyzed woman.

"No!" The surreal horror forced a complete word from Cheryl's mouth and she dashed around the table, pointing to her gasping black-cloaked friend as Chansey ran ahead of her and shouting, "Quickly, you have to get her to stop! Stop!" She shouted this succinct command at Gardenia helplessly.

Meanwhile, Cynthia struggled in Gardenia's supernaturally strong grip. She didn't want to hurt her, just get her to loosen her hold, but soon the need to breathe kicked kindness in the face and she began fighting back in earnest. Her vision was blurring and blackening when Chansey threw an Egg Bomb at Gardenia, Growling fiercely like Cheryl had never heard before and couldn't understand.

The miniature explosion knocked Cynthia to the floor, with Gardenia still hanging on unaware anything had happened.

"What…?"

Cynthia's struggle slowed and stopped. Gardenia finally let go and looked around, first at Chansey, then up at Cheryl. The illusion dissolved away as she watched in terrified and confused fascination, and then Chansey was Growling again at the cackling Gengar.

Cheryl choked on her instruction for Chansey; her attention was transfixed by Cynthia's still body on the immaculately vacuumed floor.

Taking command of itself, Chansey hurried to Cynthia's side, ignoring the woman herself and swiping a pokéball from her belt. Two quick taps in succession, and Grotle was looking at Chansey expectantly in the absence of its proper trainer. Chansey rushed out a plan, and they nodded together and set it in action.

Chansey lunged at – or more like through – Gengar. She might not be able to attack it, but the ghost couldn't harm her either, and what she _could_ do was distract it while the slower-moving Grotle snuck up with a quiet snarl.

Seeing her chance, Cheryl fled to Cynthia's side. Cynthia was grasping weakly for air with quick, shallow breaths. Cheryl pulled her partially upright, supporting her weight with her back against her, and began rummaging in her bag, hoping she hadn't used up everything in her emergency aid supplies. A sudden deep breath from Cynthia jerked her attention away from the bag. Cynthia's breathing evened out, and Cheryl watched her eyes flash open as Gengar howled its lost despair.

Grotle had scored a hit on a critical weak point, and running on the enraged adrenalin of seeing its trainer blacked out, a single Bite attack had nearly knocked out the fiendish phantom. Not willing to risk getting the same treatment it had given, Gengar fled, disappearing through the ceiling to the second story.

"Cynthia?"

"Fine," Cynthia breathed tiredly as an answer. She began pushing herself into a seated position, but Cheryl wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pulled her back down with a shake of her head.

"Not until you can answer with sentences," Cheryl said with a half-hearted smile. Cynthia, giving in easily to the idea of not having to fight with gravity while still so dizzy, closed her eyes and lay back obediently. Her thoughts however were more resistant. Cheryl looked down after half a minute to see her mouth warped in a down-turned line, and her eyes pressed more tightly closed than they would be if she was simply resting.

"It's all right." Cheryl brushed Cynthia's hair back several times, then replaced her arm around her in a light hug. Cynthia lifted one hand and placed it over Cheryl's arm, and the two sat on the floor holding onto each other, making sure it really was all right.

A couple minutes later Cynthia took her hand away and got up without a word, merely turning and giving Cheryl a hand up, then going to see to Grotle. Assured he was more or less unharmed, she made no movement to return him to the ball which had been replaced on her belt. She had had one experience too much of going around unknown places without her Pokémon out in advance.

Cheryl watched Cheryl walk towards the doorway, turned so Cheryl couldn't see whatever expression was on her face. Cheryl, though, was done without the arrangement of one watching in front of them and one behind; she walked quickly and linked her arm through Cynthia's.

In this way they ascended the staircase and heard the static of a channel-less television three rooms down, the electric glow illuminating the wall of the hallway with cool, crackling light.

In the absence of any reason to investigate another room first, they strode down the hallway, Chansey and Grotle on their heels, and entered the mysteriously inhabited room.

A bedraggled cot was shoved against the wall, the pillow clearly indented in the middle. A squat trash can, half-full, sat in the corner at the foot of the cot, and a dirty kitchenette filled the space in the corner diagonal. The television that lit up the room sat directly in the middle, drawing all attention to itself by means of its size and its active sound and images in the otherwise dead hall.

The tension fell from Cheryl's shoulders as they approached the TV. No one had lived here in years, as far as anyone knew, so she imagined the Galactics had gotten bored and left it on when they were done. Cynthia had a similar thought, but it was slightly more discrediting, assuming it was an intentional distraction either to get them in a trap or keep them preoccupied while the Galactics escaped.

Regardless of possible scheming, the television itself wasn't malevolent, and Cynthia moved forward, Cheryl with her, to switch off the set. A flash of light blinded them – "Power surge," thought Cynthia with detached practicality – "and then a spark, much stronger than the static charge of a TV screen, jumped from Cynthia to Cheryl and then visibly jumped back into the screen.

The pain lasted only as long as the spark, but the strangeness of the event had the two trainers sharing a sideways look.

"I don't know," they started at the same time, "But…"  
"We should leave it alone."  
"I'm going to try it again."

They blinked, then shared a hushed laugh before facing the television.

"If you think it best," Cheryl assented.

Cynthia reached forward to see if the process would repeat itself, but didn't get an opportunity to experiment, for the television static flicked to the barred broadcast signal, and then the unmistakably growl of a Pokémon filtered through the signal noise. The television flashed blindingly again. When the light dispersed, the set was off. Cheryl tightened her hold around Cynthia's arm as she stared into the blank face of another ghost Pokémon… a legendary one. She could feel Cynthia straightening up, getting into a proper trainer's stance for the inevitable battle.

Rotom had appeared.


	4. Chapter 4

Rotom made the first move.

Chansey and Grotle jumped in front of their trainers right as the Thundershock shot forward. Grotle, by its ground nature, was unharmed; by pure luck Chansey didn't take much damage from special attacks.

"Bite!"

Cynthia's reaction was instant, as was Grotle's, his jaws snapping down on the crackling ghost. It was still only a second before blitzing into nothing, hiding in the shadows of the room. Chansey and Grotle stood back to back, waiting for its reappearance. Cheryl had just enough time to wonder if Rotom might flee like the Gengar had when it reappeared, popping back into visibility and slamming into Grotle.

The turtle reeled back, cringing from the unexpected blow.

"Chansey, Tail Whip!"

Cheryl wished it sounded quite as confident as she had wanted it to. Still, the Pokémon obeyed, knocking Rotom's defense down a notch; she knew that their best strategy for beating any ghost was to get Grotle a good shot at Bite.

"Ready? **Curse!**"

Cheryl stared in horror at what happened next.

Grotle concentrated, slowing down his heart rate for the sake of sending his energy into buffing up his strength and defensive power. Rotom glowed brightly, a dazzling beam of light shooting at Grotle, the sudden kaleidoscopic light in the darkness confusing him. And the image of a misty nail pounded into Chansey's chest, evoking a terrified cry of pain from the Pokémon.

A pair of Galactics rushed in from the hallway, grabbing Cheryl and Cynthia's arms and restraining them behind their backs.

"Gengar's version is a little more impressive, wouldn't you say?" sniggered the man holding Cheryl.

"Chansey!"

Grotle decided the best solution with all the chaos was to unleash a Razor Leaf flurry into the room. Chansey ran forward as the sharp-edged leaves darted towards her human friends, but could only block so much, leaving everyone wincing in pain, Pokémon and people alike.

"Gengar! Hypnotize these pests so they don't remember what they've seen and then knock 'em out!" Cynthia's Galactic captor shouted.

Rotom wasn't about to have its evening interrupted and then not doing anything about it though.

A Thunder Wave arced through the air and zapped Gengar in place. Paralyzed, it was stuck facing the row of fighting Pokémon and completely unable to make eye contact with the trainers.

"Chansey!" Cheryl yelled again as the nail reappeared in both Chansey and Gengar, pounding in a little deeper. She wasn't sure how it worked, but she could tell it was definitely draining large portions of Chansey's health.

"Oh, for the love of… No you don't!"

Cheryl forced herself to look over, away from her partner, and saw the female Galactic kicking Cynthia hard right behind her knees, knocking her down onto them on the floor.

"Be quicker next time if you want to be the kicker and not the kicked," she sneered. "Now, get that Gengar unparalyzed!" she barked at her accomplice.

Chansey had recovered from the shock of the Curse attack now. Grotle also had lost its confused state. Rotom floated near the television, eerily silent among the talking and growling ruckus, save for the occasional hissing spark of static. It was a four-way stare down.

"What am I supposed to do about it? Think I run a heist carrying everything on me?"  
"Kch! Fine, I'll even things out then in our favour. Go, D—"

The Galactic released her grip on Cynthia and stumbled backward from a whirlwind of black feathers as loud cawing filled the room.

"Quickly!" Cynthia leaped to her feet and grabbed the other Galactic, twisting his wrist until he let go of Cheryl, all while ordering her Pokémon: "Bite Rotom before it lose another Thundershock can hit Murkrow! Cheryl, quickly!"

Head reeling, Cheryl turned to see her captor preparing to lunge at them both, and shouted, "Chansey! Help!"

Cheryl's captor was thinking fast as well, however.

"Gengar, Sucker Punch!"

Gengar threw two quick punches in Chansey's direction and a pair of spectral black fists detached and continued forward, knocking Chansey flat from behind before it could stop the Galactics.

An explosion of light accompanied the _FZZT_ of the television exploding as Rotom unleashed a wave of Thundershock in several directions.

Then, its loud cry sounded and just as swiftly faded as it sunk in the air, its energy almost completely depleted with it unable to return to the dead appliance and be recharged.

Gengar's cry followed on its heels; Murkrow had turned around in Pursuit of Gengar before it could leave once Chansey was taken care of.

A red beam shot across the room and returned Gengar to its pokéball. The Galactic placed it back on its belt with one hand, the other clutching at his Murkrow-pecked face. His accomplice had taken a couple talons to the arm it looked like, judging by the torn sleeve and bright red skin.

The pair of criminals turned at once for the door.

"TACKLE!"

Grotle charged forward, barreling into the girl and sending her right in line to bring down the guy with her.

Chansey and Grotle were returned, both the worse of the wear, Chansey barely able to stand as another nail dematerialized in her chest and Grotle panting heavily.

Cheryl didn't know when she had collapsed onto the carpet, but she suddenly realized a black-ruffed hand was in front of her, offering to help her up, and she grabbed gratefully onto Cynthia's arms, her grip heavy.

The wounded Galactics remained on the floor, one clutching their side in an obvious throb of pain, while the other… Seeing Cynthia follow her gaze, Cheryl followed it as well, and three pairs of eyes settled on the weakened but defiantly crackling Rotom.

"I bet that idiot didn't even bring spare balls either…" the Galactic muttered, staring wistfully at the Legendary ghost.

Cheryl looked silently at Cynthia, her hand unconsciously straying to the pokéball Buneary was currently resting in.

"Capture it," she said before she could think about it. She clapped a hand over her mouth, diverting her eyes from Cynthia's sideways glance and quirked brow, pretending to be focused on staring at Rotom. Rotom! They couldn't just catch a _legendary_!

A small smile flashed on Cynthia's face as she turned back to the ghost as well.

"It does need help, after all, it will only get weaker if it doesn't get charged back up. And if you caught a Pokémon this trip, I don't want to fall behind…"

"But!" Cheryl didn't really know what she was going to justify her protest with, other than being too stunned to accept the fact that they had both defeated a pair of Galactic thieves who had bested a gym leader, and had worn down a legendary! "G-go for it then…" she relented, eyes drifting back and forth from Rotom and Cynthia, trusting her friend as the more experienced trainer.

"Here we go," Cynthia whispered, and tossed a Pokéball at Rotom. It struggled, and the Pokéball broke open, rolling empty on the floor. Throwing her hair over her shoulder, a habit Cheryl didn't think she was even aware of, Cynthia pulled a different ball out of her bag, this one a dark-coloured mix of black and green with a blood-red seal.

"One more try." Rotom was pulled into the ball, struggling for several long, tense seconds. A quiet sound of success echoed in the room. The Galactic groaned and turned her head to face away from where the ball was resting inconspicuously beside the broken TV.

Cynthia beamed at Cheryl before collecting the ball.

"Dusk Balls. Never used one before. Always try new things."

Cheryl simply stared at Cynthia with an irrepressible sense of awe.


End file.
